ABC News to Broadcast 3rd Iowa GOP Debate From Des Moines

We don’t know exactly where and we don’t know exactly when, but Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn announced today a co-sponsor for its third debate leading up to the Iowa Caucuses in early February, 2012. What we know for certain is that, Lord Willng, the debate will be broadcast on ABC network TV sometime the weekend of December 10th, later this year, at an undisclosed location in Des Moines (perhaps near the elephants at Blank Park Zoo)!

This may be the last debate before the Iowa Caucuses, the first week of February. Candidates usually shy away from debates too close to voting, figuring they may need time afterwards to recover from any gaffes they commit (of course, time might make it worse). The GOP has scheduled two other debates, one in Sioux City, and the other in Ames right before the Iowa Straw Poll in August.

So far, only Tim Pawlenty and Herman Cain have filed exploratory committee paperwork, making official the possibility of them running for president. Yes, it would be official: they might run. Michele Bachmann announced she’s starting to form a committee that might be ready by June. Newt Gingrich is exploring the possibility of an exploratory committee. Rick Santorum has been booted off Fox News cause everybody knows he has been running for about eight years now. Dittos with Mitt Romney. Who knows when and if Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin will announce they might announce? Haley Barbour keeps hiring staff away from other candidates but hasn’t even discussed the possibility of an exploratory committee.

If you love politics, this debate will be fun. We don’t know for sure who will be debating But we do know that Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will moderate (is it possible to use the word “moderate” with this pair!?) It will also be thrilling to find out when ABC plans to announce its announcement about the exact date and location. Dragging things out seems to be in vogue during slow political news seasons.

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About David Shedlock

God has blessed David and his wife Judy with 5 boys, and 18 wonderful grandchildren. His book entitled "With Christ in the Voting Booth: Casting Down Imaginations" Before Casting Your Vote", with a Foreword by Mike Huckabee, was published by Calvary Press in September.

David is currently an adjunct instructor of Composition and Speech at Marshalltown Community College in Iowa. His wife and he have also owned a business selling antique and collectible postcards on eBay since 1999. David was an activist with Operation Rescue in the early 1990s. He has been been a member of Trinity Presbyterian Reformed Church in Johnston, Iowa for over 17 years.

Comments

I have the same amount of excitement for the current crop of potential GOP candidates as I do for root canal treatment. I’m a lifelong conservative, but I already know enough about these characters to know I’m not voting for any of them. Not Gingrich. Not Palin. Not Huckabee. Not Romney. Not Santorum. No thank you! I’m ready for the next generation of conservative leaders. I want authenticity, not politics. I want leadership, not talking points. I want someone whose personal life doesn’t make them unfit to lead an entire country. I’m not trusting the “R” behind anyone’s name anymore. Conservatives have been energized since the 2010 elections, but nothing will squelch that excitement like the nomination of Newt Gingrich or any of others mentioned in the article. If the GOP wants my vote, they’ll need to do more than roll out this rerun of presidential wannabes and I bet I’m not alone.